playoffs: 2020-21 | EDSR | (E3) Boston Bruins vs. (E4) New York Islanders

[Keirik]

I can say you're not picking a lane either!

 

Whoever they signed, they did it because you don't get a chance at these players all the time. The idea was never that Panarin would lead us to a Cup. It's that he'd be good enough at 31, 32, 33 to contribute. We discussed this forever when they signed him. On top of that, we all know that they don't commit to Kreider long term if they knew they were getting Lafreniere.

 

So I don't blame them for being caught in the middle of a rebuild where they literally won two draft lotteries. Of course they would be in between lanes.

 

See the thing is, I’m not the GM or coach of the team. I don’t have to pick a lane but I thought I certainly did many times this season and before when I said this team has to make the playoffs and take that next step. I also said prior to the season they needed to address the 4th line. I even named guys I said they should be getting so much to the point, BB was a funny joke. As I said though, I’m fine with either lane they pick as long as they actually choose one. I think their top 6 is up there with most other teams top 6 so I think we should be ahead of where we are. That’s my lane. They dropped the ball by not addressing the bottom 6 in a better way prior to this season and instead tried winning every game with two lines only.

 

The Laf thing holds no water to me. I don’t care if they signed Kreider or not. Once they did though I was under the impression they were committing to a large part of this group already, hence further picking a lane. Having Laf afterwards is one of those great problems to have but it shouldn’t have changed much.

[Keirik]

Uh, yeah.

 

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Uh, no?

[Pete]

See the thing is, I’m not the GM or coach of the team. I don’t have to pick a lane. As I said though, I’m fine with either lane they pick as long as they actually choose one. I think their top 6 is up there with most other teams top 6. That’s my lane. They dropped the ball by not addressing the bottom 6 in a better way prior to this season and instead tried winning every game with two lines only.

 

Now it's about the bottom six? Not picking a lane just means you're all over the place. You're complaining just to complain because the local team you don't root for is better than the one that you do.

 

Sorry but that's how sports works. It's cyclical.

 

It's also not lost on me how you don't even bother addressing the points I make in my post because you don't have a counterpoint, you just continually move the goal post... And that's probably why you're not happy with the franchise either, when you're constantly moving the goal posts you'll never be satisfied.

 

When they win a cup, you'll complain that they're not a dynasty like The Islander teams that won four in a row!

[Keirik]

Now it's about the bottom six? Not picking a lane just means you're all over the place. You're complaining just to complain because the local team you don't root for is better than the one that you do.

 

Sorry but that's how sports works. It's cyclical.

 

It's also not lost on me how you don't even bother addressing the points I make in my post because you don't have a counterpoint, you just continually move the goal post... And that's probably why you're not happy with the franchise either, when you're constantly moving the goal posts you'll never be satisfied.

 

When they win a cup, you'll complain that they're not a dynasty like The Islander teams that won four in a row!

 

What the hell are you talking about? It’s almost as if you are selectively reading parts of my messages and ignoring other stuff. I’ve said all season this team should have made the playoffs. I said prior to the season even in predicting my lineup that they should be bringing in guys like Boyle or Simmonds. I’m not all over the place at all.

[Blue Heaven]

So back to the Islanders game.

5-2 Isles.

Now the refs give the Bruins PPs

 

 

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[Blue Heaven]

5-3 16:12 left

 

 

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[RodrigueGabriel]

Uh, no?

If you'd been out there last fall saying, "This team can make the playoffs. This team needs to make the playoffs. Gorton should make whatever sacrifices necessary and throw some kids overboard to make the playoffs," this would have some merit for me because we would have had the conversation. Or even,, "THIS TEAM MUST CHOOSE!" I'm happy to read the posts that I missed. As 20/20 hindsight, it just seems configured to support the original "fire Quinn" narrative - which wasn't about the composition of the bottom 6. But I'll repeat that the "They didn't pick a lane" posture strikes me as just a way to argue both sides of the issue without committing to either. So, uh, yeah.

 

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[Karan]

Yea, think we might need a separate Rangers Rebuild Direction thread or something to avoid derailing this one further...

 

NYI's scoring depth is unreal. They're absolutely taking it to the B's here and making them look average.

[Keirik]

If you'd been out there last fall saying, "This team can make the playoffs. This team needs to make the playoffs. Gorton should make whatever sacrifices necessary and throw some kids overboard to make the playoffs," this would have some merit for me because we would have had the conversation. Or even,, "THIS TEAM MUST CHOOSE!" I'm happy to read the posts that I missed. As 20/20 hindsight, it just seems configured to support the original "fire Quinn" narrative - which wasn't about the composition of the bottom 6. But I'll repeat that the "They didn't pick a lane" posture strikes me as just a way to argue both sides of the issue without committing to either. So, uh, yeah.

 

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Well I’m sorry if you don’t remember me saying things but many times I’ve had arguments during the year and saying this team should be a playoff team whether in game day threads or elsewhere. I’ve also criticized management not saying it was a requirement. I’ve further BEFORE the season started said they should look at Kyle Clifford, Boyle, and Simmonds respectively. Hell, my opening day prediction included those THREE guys along with trying to poach Cirelli from Tampa instead of Strome just because I figured talent wise it’s close but Cirelli is a bit more defensively responsible and that solves a little bit of well roundedness. Strome was basically our quiet MVP so I’m happily wrong there.

[Blue Heaven]

5-4 5:17 left

[Blue Heaven]

Bruins buzzin'

but this will be when Isles go in lockdown mode and Bruins will barely have puck possession

[RichieNextel305]

Good thing Boston scored there. Yet another missed call right before the fourth Boston goal.

 

Gonna be a wild finish.

[RichieNextel305]

How many times will the announcer remind us that Game 6 is at Nassau Coliseum?

[RichieNextel305]

Islanders defense is just brilliant.

 

1:06 to go. Timeout Boston.

[BrooksBurner]

Can't give up 5 goals on 19 shots and expect to win, even when you generate 44 shots in comparison.

[Blue Heaven]

fuck this team

[RodrigueGabriel]

Well I’m sorry if you don’t remember me saying things but many times I’ve had arguments during the year and saying this team should be a playoff team whether in game day threads or elsewhere. I’ve also criticized management not saying it was a requirement. I’ve further BEFORE the season started said they should look at Kyle Clifford, Boyle, and Simmonds respectively. Hell, my opening day prediction included those THREE guys along with trying to poach Cirelli from Tampa instead of Strome just because I figured talent wise it’s close but Cirelli is a bit more defensively responsible and that solves a little bit of well roundedness. Strome was basically our quiet MVP so I’m happily wrong there.

Well, we can probably shut it down now. I maintain that not only did they have to do both things, they had success at both things. I don't think Wayne Simmonds and Brian Boyle together would have been remotely enough to win those key games to get them into the playoffs in that division. (Cirelli is a different animal entirely.) The young players need more seasoning in addition to some tougher role players. They got some of that experience in an honest to God stretch drive playoff race, which they wouldn't have gotten if they didn't try to both develop the kids and win games. So, we disagree. Thanks for the exchange. Best wishes as usual.

 

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[Keirik]

Fuck the Islanders ugh.

[Keirik]

How many times will the announcer remind us that Game 6 is at Nassau Coliseum?

 

Enough times for us to remember the odor of that pee infested dump

[RichieNextel305]

The smell of piss would be a step up.

 

And the only reason it smells like pee is because they have like 4 men’s rooms for 13,000+ people who have been drinking for hours and hours. Many just piss on the building.

[RichieNextel305]

Cassidy went off on the officials after the game, basically saying that the Islanders group, while he respects them, are trying to sell a narrative that they’re super clean and play hard and don’t ever take penalties. He went on to call them the New York Saints, and said it is beyond frustrating to see the same calls go against them that are happening to them and not being called. And you know what? Good for him. The Bruins dominated most of this game tonight and were undone by some brutal officiating, and had some calls not get called against the Islanders that were rather blatant. If nothing else, maybe this will stay in the minds of whoever officiates Game 6.

[Sod16]

It's pretty unusual for a team that is being outshot 44-19 and playing most of the game in its zone to get four PPs to the opponent's two. The ref's apparently believe that the rule on crosschecking is that it is legal unless it is hard enough to leave a permanent welt on the opponent. I don't know how Barzal's two cross checks to which Kreji retaliated in Game 4 were not called.

 

Good teams get outplayed and still win. So do lucky ones. We'll see which one the Islanders really are.

[RichieNextel305]

Agreed completely.

 

I’m not going to nitpick too much here, but the only penalty that would be called regardless of circumstance was the one where Kuraly cross checked Barzal in the head around center ice. No problem with that being called.

 

Hell, early on in this game, right after Boston made it 1-0, both teams came out with the hitting. It was a very physical few minutes where you thought to yourself, “Okay it seems the refs are gonna let them play in this one, good stuff!”

 

And then soon after, after letting multiple calls go on not only the Islanders but on Boston also, they call that ticky tacky slash that leads to the Isles first goal.

 

I don’t know if many of you remember the series with Buffalo that we had in 2007. I remember it well. And the reason I remember it well is because it was the worst officiated series that these two eyeballs have ever seen. And I’m trying to be as non-biased there as I can. I have a friend of mine who is a die-hard Sabres fan who can agree with me there too. It was so bad that the two of us, to this day, reference that series when it comes to horrific officiating, and we spoke tonight and both agreed that this game was reminiscent of that 6-game torture session.

 

It was laughable as the game went on. Believe me, obviously I’m rooting for Boston to win this series because it is the lesser of two evils. But, I also fucking despise that team. I watch them enough to hate them but also respect how they play this time of year. And that is also making me respect this Isles team too, because Boston is a very difficult team come playoff time and they have them on the brink. But when you have players like Pastrnak and Bergeron (one of the most respected athletes in the sport) slamming their sticks on the ice because of how lopsided a game is being called, there might be a problem. Cassidy went off, as I posted before. And Patrick Sharp agreed on NBCSN.

 

The officials need to wake up a bit here, because that was just a very poor job by both Francis Charron and Francois St. Laurent. It’s absurd that the league can’t hold these officials to the standard and will continue to run them out there and the organizations and the coaches have to stay tight lipped when they flat out cost you a game in a playoff series. Honestly, tonight was bad to the point that they should both be sent off for an early summer.

[Sod16]

If the Islanders advance, it won't take many calls against them to get burned by Tampa.

[RichieNextel305]

The Islanders are gonna be a tough team to give a knockout punch to. That being said, we’ve seen first hand that playing this brand of hockey can tire a team out across a few playoff series like the Tortorella Rangers did. That being said, they’ve got plenty of experience, they’re hungry, their goaltending has been (for the most part) great and now Barzal is red hot.

 

The Coliseum is going to be rocking for Game 6. But if there is any team in this league that can tune out all of that outside noise and go in there and beat the Islanders at their own game in this particular situation, I’d argue the Bruins are the best bet. There is nothing that this core hasn’t seen and isn’t ready for. They’ll come out ready to go and won’t roll over and just die without throwing a punch there like Pittsburgh did. Boston is also a hard team to finally put away.